


PROLOGUE: We Walked Towards the Same Place

by jks_microwave



Series: The Adventures of Kim & Co. Law Offices [2]
Category: ATEEZ (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Detective Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Flashbacks, Gen, Lawyer Jeon Jungkook, Lawyer Kim Namjoon | RM, Lawyer Kim Seokjin | Jin, Lawyer Kim Taehyung | V, Office Manager Jung Wooyoung, Paralegal Choi San, Paralegal Park Seonghwa, Prologue, Prosecutor Min Yoongi, Prosecutor Park Jimin, Someone please pour one out for the support staff, This is Ace Attorney but with Bangtan, sexy lawyer drama, the firm was gonna be called one 10 and a bunch of 8s but there was a mutiny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28857078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jks_microwave/pseuds/jks_microwave
Summary: [SEQUEL to "Courage Just Wait a Bit; I'll Catch You", PROLOGUE to "Looking for an Erased Dream"]The dutiful employees of Kim & Co. Law Offices return from Christmas break to find that one of their own, Kim Namjoon, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Jungkook, who had been accused of murder himself and saved by Namjoon, doesn't think twice before leaping to the defence.Namjoon, however, has decided to plead guilty and in an attempt to sway his mind, Jungkook reminds him of the murder trial 5 years ago where it all began.
Relationships: Jeon Jungkook/Kim Namjoon | RM
Series: The Adventures of Kim & Co. Law Offices [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918012
Comments: 10
Kudos: 20





	PROLOGUE: We Walked Towards the Same Place

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little surprise for everyone! This series has NOT been forgotten but as it's onto the main story and there are about a billion threads I need to weave, I got burned out and had to pause writing it for a little bit. However! I realized this first part could be read as a Prologue. Enjoy! 
> 
> PS: This is heavily influenced by/pulled from Ace Attorney so this isn't structured like a normal trial and there are/may be a lot of logic gaps because it is a puzzle game/visual novel first. I've tried to fix these as best I can but suspend your disbelief if you can~

[KIM & Co. LAW OFFICES - DECEMBER 26 - 9:00 a.m.]

Jeon Jungkook sighed and ran a hand through his hair; his train from Busan to Seoul had gotten in late, later than he had anticipated so he had to make a quick stop to the apartment he shared with Taehyung to drop off his luggage before heading in to the office. “Happy Holidays,” he mumbled as he entered, long fingers clutching a coffee that had such high caffeine levels it could jolt awake the dead.

“Happy Holidays, Jungkook!” greeted Jung Wooyoung, Kim & Co.’s office manager. He blinked, seeing the state of the young attorney. “Did you party too hard yesterday? You look like someone hit you with a moving train.”

“Thanks Wooyoung,” Jungkook mumbled, shuffling in and kicking the door shut with his foot - ignoring the squawk that followed behind him. “Oh. Sorry, boss.”

Kim Seokjin stared at him, Santa hat slightly misaligned. “Sorry!? You nearly marred my beautiful face! Where would our office be if something happened to it, huh, Jeon Jungkook??”

“We’d be out on the street,” Jungkook recited sleepily as he sank heavily into the chair behind his small desk. “…Happy Holidays.”

Seokjin raised an eyebrow and marched over, leaning down until he could look Jungkook in the eye. “What’s with you?”

“Train got in late,” Jungkook replied, raising his coffee cup to his boss and causing the legendary attorney to recoil at the powerful smell of caffeine. “Train might’ve also hit something and that’s why it got delayed. I dunno. Maybe it was Santa’s Sleigh when he was on his way back to the North Pole.”

A slight snort escaped Seokjin and he ruffled Jungkook’s hair. “You’re lucky that today’s probably going to be a quiet day.”

“You should know better than to say that within the walls of Kim & Co.,” Kim Taehyung warned, straightening out his tie He grinned and placed a box of boozy chocolates on Wooyoung’s desk. “For you! Thank you for all your hard work and keeping the office afloat. We’d be dead in the water without you, Wooyoungie!”

Wooyoung opened his mouth to say thanks, but soon narrowed his eyes as a thought crossed his mind. “What did you forget to do this time, Taehyung-hyung?”

A brilliant, yet incredibly sheepish smile creased Taehyung’s lips and Jungkook had to bite the top of his coffee cup’s plastic lid to keep himself from laughing. “What? Why would you think that I’m doing this as a bribe? You’ve worked so hard this past year and all the other years that I felt like you could use some holiday cheer!”

Jungkook poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue as a tired grin ceased his chapped lips. He was just tired enough that his filter was slipping off, and what better time than when his best friend and roommate was trying to get into Wooyoung’s good graces. “I bet he found an invoice for a court reporter that he should’ve submitted a month ago.”

“ _Jungkookie!_ ” Taehyung exclaimed, aghast. “How could you say such an… incredibly accurate thing.” His brows furrowed. “Are you a witch?”

The youngest member of the Kim & Co. Law Offices raised his coffee cup. “Double Trouble, Boil and Bubble, baby.”

Wooyoung sighed and plucked up the box of chocolates, easily tugging at the red string fastened to the plastic wrap and opening it. “Thank you,” he said finally. “Just get me the invoice and I’ll take care of it. You’re lucky that Mina at _Quill Court Reporting_ likes me.”

With a happy cry, Taehyung wrapped his arms around the young office manager, hugging him tight and nuzzling his cheek. “Thank you, Wooyoungie! Jin-hyung should give you the biggest holiday raise!”

A wild blush shot across Wooyoung’s cheeks and ran all the way to his ears as his shoulders hunched up, always weak to Taehyung’s charms. Seokjin snorted and plucked one of the chocolates from the box, popping it into his mouth as he deftly picked up the remote control and turned on the office’s TV.

The flat screen TV spurred to life, forever on the 24 hour news channel. One of the anchors, a young woman with over styled hair and a rose pink blouse and black suit jacket sat at the desk. The office had a running bet as to whether or not she and her co-anchor were dating, then broke up, and were now at each other’s throats because their chemistry was so good the network refused to let them anchor with different people. Jungkook, San and Seonghwa believed they just didn’t like each other, while Namjoon and Wooyoung were convinced they were still dating and just in a spat, and Seokjin and Taehyung believed it was all three.

“ _It seems that Seoul is home to a Red Christmas once again as there has been a murder at Swindu Lake,_ ” the anchor began, her voice firm and steady, but with just the right amount of concern. “ _It was only mere days before that the discovery of Whalien, the cryptid. The name is a portmanteau of Whale and Alien due to its strange shape. The discovery which was once a cause for celebration for the community over the holidays, has now been shattered by this incident. The Suspect has been confirmed by the Seoul Police Department to be Kim Namjoon, aged 26, rising Defence Attorney from the infamous Kim & Co. Law Office. More on the situation as it develops._”

The air in the office was sucked out, the only sound being the loud rumbling of the heater that Seokjin said they’d always get fixed but always forgot about. Seokjin narrowed his eyes and pulled out his cellphone, speed-dialling a number and putting the call on speaker phone. “Detective Jung Hoseok! Is there a reason you didn’t call me first to tell me one of my lawyers had been arrested for _murder_ on _Christmas?_ ”

“ _Hey, I was working on it!_ ” Hoseok defended himself, sounding equally as harried. “ _It’s taken me just this long to make sure the media lines that went out didn’t paint him as a demon! Yoongi’s already down here. Which one of you is coming down to defend him?_ ”

Seokjin raised an eyebrow. “He’s asking for defence counsel?”

“ _He’s saying he’s going to defend himself,_ ” Hoseok replied, the sounds of multiple people running about filling the background noise. “ _—Hey! What did I say? We’re not leaving here until we’ve gotten every bit of evidence for BOTH sides! Do you want Internal Affairs on our ass for showing bias? — sorry, Seokjin-hyung. Namjoon is saying that he’s going to defend himself and he’s pleading guilty. You know as well as I do that’s not a good idea, so which one of you is going to come down and defend him?_ ”

“— Me, I’m going to!” Jungkook exclaimed, rising to his feet.

Seokjin whirled around, phone in hand. “Jungkook!”

Pausing briefly, Jungkook stared back at his senior with wide eyes. “What?!”

“There’s no way you’re ready to take on a murder case by yourself. You’ve only done two more since you had _amnesia_ ,” Seokjin pointed out, his gaze stern.

Jungkook made a soft, annoyed sound. It was clear he was impatient, wanting - no, needing - to get out of the office as fast as possible to get to Namjoon. “Then are you coming or what?!”

Seokjin sucked his teeth and let out a hiss of irritation himself. “I can’t, I’m past capacity with the _Bloody Valentine_ case and that’s going two weeks, easy.”

Jungkook groaned. “Then I’m going to go! We have to hurry before he makes a dumb decision like put in a self-defence request!”

“At least take Taehyung with you—”

Jungkook was already grabbing his coat and pulling it on, searching wildly for his briefcase that was sitting idly beside his desk before Wooyoung quietly handed it to him. “Thanks! — hyung, come on! Let’s go before he’s made his formal request.”

Taehyung blinked and seemed to snap out of the daze he was in, nodding and grabbing his own coat and briefcase, hurrying out of the office behind Jungkook and just barely missing Choi San and Park Seonghwa, the two paralegals of the Kim & Co. offices. “Wait up, Jungkookie!”

“Sorry, hyung!” Jungkook apologized as he slowed his pace, allowing Taehyung to catch up with him enough that the two of them were side by side as they ran towards the subway station. “Sorry San, Seonghwa! It’s an emergency! — I like the new hair colour, San!! Red looks good on you!”

San looked at Seonghwa, then down at the tray of coffees he was holding. “So much for a normal morning,” he muttered. He held up the tray to the stunned office. “Anybody want an extra one?”

Seonghwa held up a brown paper bag that clinked softly when lightly jostled. “We also brought booze.”

Seokjin sighed and waved them in. “Bless you two. I’ll take it all.”

[DETENTION CENTER - DECEMBER 26 - 11:15 a.m.]

His heart was beating out of his chest as he sat down on the visitor’s side of the pane of bulletproof glass, dressed in his best suit that felt entirely too tight. He caught a glance of his reflection and exhaled deeply; his hair had been meticulously styled to be both professional and modern, but his hair had a mind of its own and was slowly slipping free of the hair gel’s hold.

Anxiously, Jungkook ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to tame it. Swallowing tightly, he rubbed his sweaty palms on his finely pressed pants. He had to keep it together. This was important. He looked over at Taehyung, who was also out of breath and a little sweaty as doing a full on sprint through the subway station and down the street to the Detention Centre at the Police Headquarters wasn’t the smartest thing to do in a full suit and jacket.

A flicker of movement caught his attention and Jungkook held his breath as the door opened and a tall, slender man with ashen blond hair and a wrinkled navy blue suit entered followed closely by a guard. Jungkook’s heart began to beat faster as the man recognized him, soulful brown eyes widening just a fraction with realization before they hardened. Quietly, the man sat down and Jungkook could see Kim Namjoon’s broad shoulders hunched up with tension.

“Namjoon-hyung,” Jungkook started, his voice thick. He wondered what the older man was thinking, sitting on the other side of that lifeless plexiglass. He wondered if Namjoon felt as helpless and scared as he did when he was accused of murder during his first year of university. “I—”

Namjoon frowned, and glanced away. “What are you doing here, Jungkook? Taehyung?” He swallowed, and it was brief, almost too quick for anyone to see but Jungkook’s sharp eyes caught it. “You two shouldn’t be here.”

Startled, Jungkook’s eyes widened and a frown creased his lips. “What do you _mean_ , what are we doing here?!” he demanded, his fists clenching tighter in his lap. “You’ve been charged with murder! I’m — we’re — going to be your defence attorneys! Detective Jung says you don’t have any representation and the trial is _days_ from now.”

“I’m going to defend myself,” Namjoon stated firmly, his lips creasing into a thin line. “There’s no need for either of you to be involved in this case.”

Jungkook shook his head. “No, there’s… there’s no way I’m going to just _leave_ you here!”

“—You especially need to stay away from this case, Jungkook,” Namjoon interjected, his voice soft but his tone firm. “There’s a reason why any defence attorney worth their salt has declined to take on my defence.”

Jungkook frowned and clenched his fists beneath the table’s surface. Taehyung shook his head, dark eyes just as firm as his senior’s. “This doesn’t make any sense,” Taehyung protested. “There’s no way that you killed anybody! I _know_ you. This whole thing reeks of a cover-up.”

The harshness in Namjoon’s eyes faltered for a moment, but it was more than enough confirmation for Jungkook that things were not what they appeared. “Does Seokjin-hyung know you two here?”

“Yes.”

“ _Jungkook_.”

“He does!” Jungkook defended, fighting back a pout. “He just… he said he couldn’t take it because the _Bloody Valentine_ case exploded and he’s past his capacity preparing for the trial as it’s probably going to be one of the few cases given leave to be over three days. But he didn’t want me to take your case alone because I’m too new.”

“That’s why he sent me too,” Taehyung replied, raking a hand through his damp hair.

Namjoon sighed. “He’s right. You only have four trials under your belt and while you’re showing remarkable promise, this is way above your head, Jungkook. I don’t want you anywhere near this.” 

“Oh, but it’s fine for me?” Taehyung asked, raising an eyebrow. He felt like he was third-wheeling.

Jungkook frowned. “Your trial is in a few _days_ , hyung. You’ve been in here the entire time. What evidence have you found that proves your innocence?” There was no question that Kim Namjoon was one hell of a defence attorney - Jungkook had seen it in action himself five years ago. But there was a difference when it came to defending oneself. Especially for murder.

“…I’m not planning on defending myself. I’m pleading guilty.”

“What?!” Jungkook shot to his feet as he slammed his hands down on the table, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and incredulity. “You’re innocent! I _know_ you are.” He could feel his head begin to spin as panic set in, but he forced himself to stay conscious. “Hyung… Namjoon-hyung, don’t you remember what happened five years ago? Don’t you remember what you told me?”

Namjoon’s eyes flashed briefly with concern and realization, but in a blink of an eye, it was gone and his gaze had hardened once more. Jungkook’s heart clenched and stretched in his chest; he hated seeing Namjoon like this. His hyung shone on the floor of the courtroom, volleying back and forth with the Prosecution and uncovering the truth. It was a crime in and of itself that Namjoon was in the sterile, lifeless and suffocating walls of the Detention Centre.

“I know exactly what I said five years ago, Jungkook,” he said slowly, his deep voice gravely from lack of sleep and the marathon questioning he’d likely been under since his arrest. “This is different.”

“No it’s not!” Jungkook exclaimed, shaking his head firmly, his earrings jingling from the sudden movement. “I was at my lowest point, staring down the barrel of a conviction that seemed to be all but set in stone. But you didn’t give up on me, even… even when I fucked it up so badly I nearly got convicted anyway. You told me that no matter what happened, you’d stick by me until the end. You’d believe in me until the end, and do whatever it took to get to the truth.”

“Jungkook—”

“Seems like I’ve got to remind you what happened back then, hyung.”

[Five Years Ago - Defendant’s Lobby No. 1 - April 27th - 9:50 a.m.]

Swallowing tightly, Kim Namjoon stood in the Defendant’s Lobby with his mentor and friend, defence attorney Kim Seokjin. He felt like his skin was crawling, his suit too tight, and maybe it was too fashion forward to wear something like this to _Court_ , and what would his client think? He awkwardly pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, and swallowed again.

“You look like you’re the one that’s on trial for murder,” Seokjin said, raising a finely groomed eyebrow, dressed in a gorgeously tailored dark grey suit. His black hair was meticulously slicked back, nary a hair out of place. “Try and put on a more confident front, yeah? Think about your client.”

Namjoon glanced over to the couch where his client sat - a young man of just 18, with raven black hair and looking out of place in a somewhat oversized suit that was clearly a hand-me-down. Seeing the young man engaged in a stiff staring contest with the floor, all the tension and anxiety left Namjoon, and he found himself walking over to the younger man. “It’s going to be okay.”

The young man, Jeon Jungkook, jumped out of his skin at Namjoon’s voice, and flushed bright red - embarrassed at having been caught zoning out. He chewed at his lip, worry washing over his boyishly handsome features. “…do you really think so? M-Murder’s a really big deal. — I really didn’t do it! I promise I didn’t!”

“H-Hey, hey,” Namjoon soothed, reaching out to place his hands on Jungkook’s shoulders. “Take a deep breath and answer what’s asked of you honestly. If you don’t know the answer, say you don’t know rather than trying to figure an answer out.”

Jungkook nodded, his wide, doe-brown eyes filled with concern. Namjoon fought down the urge to hug him; something in him just wanted to comfort the young man any way he could. It was a strange feeling; Namjoon wasn’t usually the touchy-feely type. “I…I heard that…” He swallowed. “I heard some of the Bailiffs talking… they said the Demon Prosecutor took my case.” Jungkook looked down, frowning. “They say that I’m as good as done with him prosecuting me.”

Confusion coloured Namjoon’s handsome features before realization set in. To his client’s surprise, the rookie defence attorney gave him a warm smile. “Min Yoongi,” he said, watching as Jungkook nodded slowly. “We don’t have to worry about him.”

“We _don’t?_ ” Jungkook echoed, eyes widening further. “But they said he was a demon!”

Namjoon laughed and shook his head. “He is if you’ve committed a crime. But you said that you were innocent, right? And I believe that you’re innocent. So, we don’t have anything to worry about.”

“R-Right…”

“Please proceed to the Courtroom,” the Bailiff interrupted. “Court is about to begin.”

Namjoon nodded, rising to his feet - and followed by a startled Jungkook. “Remember what I said, Jungkook. Be honest, even if that means you don’t know the answer.”

“O-Okay.”

The Gallery filled the Courtroom with a energetic din, silenced by the Judge’s gavel sounding firmly throughout the room. “Order!” he bellowed. “We will now begin the trial of Jeon Jungkook in the murder of Bin Daejung. For the Defence, we have Kim Seokjin and Kim Namjoon. Are you ready?”

“Yes Your Honour,” Namjoon replied, forcing his voice to smooth itself out. He had to put on a brave face - Jungkook was counting on him.

The Judge raised an eyebrow. “I was under the impression that Kim Seokjin would be the one heading up the Defence today.”

Seokjin gave the Judge a beautifully vibrant smile, and Namjoon could have sworn he heard both the men and women in the crowd swoon. Even the Judge had to clear his throat to clear his head. “I am a firm believer in getting as much experience as possible right out the gate. Namjoon will be taking the lead on this case and I will be here as support. I trust that will be okay, Your Honour?”

“Yes, of course,” the Judge confirmed, nodding once. He glanced over to the Prosecutor’s bench, where a young man around Namjoon’s age stood, dressed in a sharp black suit, with even sharper dark eyes and wavy black hair. Instead of the usual oxford knot tie, Min Yoongi had a thick black ribbon tied in a loose bow, a little flash of defiance in a sea of conforming fashion choices for court attire. “Prosecutor Min Yoongi, is the Prosecution ready?”

“Always, Your Honour,” Yoongi replied, and Namjoon could see Jungkook jump a bit in surprise. Yoongi’s voice always caught people off guard; no one was ever expecting someone of the Prosecutor’s stature and delicate features to have such a deep, rough voice. They also never expected to be cut down to size by words alone but Yoongi was always full of surprises.

The Judge nodded. “Then let’s begin. Prosecutor Min, if you could please give the Court your opening statement.”

Yoongi nodded and took a moment’s pause before addressing the Court. “University is a fairly turbulent time in many people’s lives - the uncertainty of the future, the pressure of the present, and the stress of figuring out who you are as a person. Emotions are heightened, including those of jealousy, and anger. Bin Daejung was an ambitious young man, at the cusp of finishing up his fourth year in pharmacology. But he got caught up in a whirlwind and it cost him his life. The Prosecution will determine the murderer with facts, evidence and witness testimony.”

Jungkook’s eyes widened from the Defendant’s chair and he looked like he was about to faint. Namjoon gently pushed his glasses up with an index finger, and squared his shoulders; Yoongi was as verbose and clear as always, pulling the gallery and the Judge under his spell right out the gate. He clearly wasn’t going to go easy on Namjoon, and the Defence Attorney wouldn’t have expected any less. He gave a comforting smile to Jungkook, watching as the Defendant swallowed, and nodded back.

“The Prosecution would like to add these two photographs of the crime scene as it occurred to the Court Record,” Yoongi said blithely. “As you can see, they tell the story of Mr. Bin’s last moments.” He smirked. “Maybe the Defence can tell us what the cause of death was.”

Namjoon narrowed his eyes slightly, but smirked and rose to Yoongi’s challenge. He’d only been removed from the Prosecutor’s office a scant few months and he’d known Yoongi for much longer; he knew with whom he was dealing. A small burst of adrenaline coursed through his veins. “The cause of death was electrocution,” he replied simply. “The victim died at 3:05 p.m. The accuracy of which is shown by his wristwatch in the second photograph; it stopped working the second he was hit by the electrical charge.”

Yoongi hummed and nodded, his palms flat on the dark wood of the Prosecutor’s bench. “It seems someone did the required readings,” he commented.

He could do this.

“The Prosecution calls the Defendant, Jeon Jungkook to the stand.”

He could _not_ do this.

“What?!” Namjoon exclaimed, startling not only the Judge and Jungkook, but Seokjin as well. “What are you playing at, Prosecutor?” He knew what Yoongi was doing, of course, but he had to ask and he had to ask on the Record.

A thin smirk curled Yoongi’s lips and he placed a hand on the hard wood of the Prosecutor’s bench. “If your client is innocent, then there is nothing to fear, isn’t that right?”

“I didn’t think you’d resort to such base tricks, Prosecutor Min,” Seokjin commented, a smirk on his lips. Yoongi’s eyes narrowed very slightly, but his expression otherwise remained the same. “I didn’t think you’d be the type to bully college students. Demon Prosecutor indeed.”

Yoongi scoffed. “If you prepared him properly, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

Predictably ruffled, Seokjin turned suddenly to Jungkook, who jumped at suddenly being stared at by the older man. “Yah, JK! You get up there on that stand and you show this stuffed shirt what’s what!”

“W-What?” Jungkook stammered, paling.

Namjoon placed a hand over his face, and the other one on Seokjin’s shoulder. “I apologize to the Court for my co-counsel’s outburst… the Defence has no objections to calling the Defendant.” To Jungkook, he smiled. “Remember what I told you. Tell the truth.”

Jungkook swallowed and nodded, rising from his seat as the Bailiff escorted him to the witness stand. “Please state your name and occupation for the Court,” Yoongi instructed, his voice clear, firm and sharp.

“J-Jeon Jungkook,” Jungkook started, swallowing. “I’m, uh, I’m a first year student at Seoul National University. I’m in the, um, I’m in the…” He shook his head and bowed deeply to the Judge. “I’m sorry; I’m nervous.”

The Judge nodded slightly. “Take your time.”

“My name is Jeon Jungkook and I am a first year student at Seoul National University. I am in the undergraduate program in the Department of Korean Language and Literature, in the College of Humanities,” Jungkook answered, the earlier tremor in his voice evening out somewhat.

“It says here that you’ve just turned eighteen,” the Judge noted, flipping through his notes. “That you’re already in the second half of your first year of university is quite impressive.”

Jungkook’s cheeks flushed pink, and he nodded, biting his lip. Namjoon could have sworn he heard a woman coo in the audience. “I, um, graduated early.”

As the Judge nodded, Yoongi moved from behind the Prosecutor’s bench and caught Jungkook’s attention as he did so. “I’ll start off easy, Jungkook,” Yoongi started, sliding his hands into his pockets, “how well did you know the victim?”

“Not well,” Jungkook admitted. “I knew of him, but he’s a fourth year and I’m a first year, we’re in different programs and different age groups.” He wrinkled his nose. “He talked with this weird American accent, though. Always wore a American flag shirt. I thought it was weird, but everyone’s got something they’re hardcore about.”

Yoongi hummed in response, nodding. “Of course. But I believe that you knew the victim a lot better than you’re leading the Court to believe.”

Jungkook’s brows furrowed. “Huh?”

Not answering Jungkook directly, Yoongi turned instead to the Judge. “Your girlfriend; her name is Wan Jinae.” Jungkook tensed, instinctively swallowing but remaining silent, seemingly waiting for the Prosecutor to finish his thought. “Up until eight months ago, she was dating the victim, Bin Daejung.”

(Jinae?)

He knew that name. Wait, more importantly than that —

Namjoon was about to stage an objection when Jungkook spoke up. “That doesn’t really change anything I said,” he said quietly. “I knew _of_ him, but we didn’t run in the same circles. She’d been broken up with him for a while by the time Jinae and I started dating.”He frowned. “Why are you asking me about Jinae?”

Yoongi hummed again, taking his time in answering. “This story has some very interesting layers; she’s one of them.” He shifted and turned his gaze back onto the young man. “If you don’t mind me asking, Jungkook, are you just getting over a cold? Your voice sounds a little hoarse.”

Jungkook jumped, eyes widening; he thought he sounded pretty normal by now. “Y-Yes, I’m on the other end of a cold. I always catch them pretty easily when the weather changes. It’s been raining on and off all week.”

“Mm. Were you taking anything for it?”

Jungkook blinked. “Cold medicine.” Yoongi glared at him and he yelped.

Namjoon bit back a smile. “He’s asking what brand.”

“O-Oh! Um. Sorry,” Jungkook mumbled, decidedly looking _away_ from Yoongi’s piercing gaze. He cleared his throat, embarrassed. “It’s called Cold Blaster.”

Seokjin balked. “Isn’t that for children?”

“It’s the only one that doesn’t hurt my stomach!” Jungkook defended himself, before realizing what he said _out loud in Court_ , and he groaned. He put his face in his hands, blunt fingernails digging into his face.

Namjoon pursed his lips, trying his best not to let a wide smile pull at his lips. As embarrassing it was, it was doing wonders for Jungkook’s credibility and impression with the Gallery and the Judge if they could see that he didn’t have the capacity for murder. “Why are you bringing this up, Prosecutor?”

“Mm. Why indeed,” Yoongi murmured. He turned to Jungkook. “Do you have the bottle on you?”

Jungkook shifted and frowned. “No, I lost it around lunchtime yesterday. I was having lunch with Jinae, my girlfriend. We always eat together.”

“You lost it,” Yoongi repeated. “Are you sure about that?”

“I said don’t know _where_ I lost it, but I had it before I sat down for lunch and I didn’t have it afterwards… so I lost it around there,” Jungkook explained, his frown deepening. “Why are you asking about my cold medicine?”

Yoongi hummed again, and smoothly grabbed the second crime scene photograph - the one with the victim’s wristwatch. “Please take a look at this and tell me what you see.”

Jungkook’s brows furrowed as he peered at the photograph. His eyes widened and he looked over at Namjoon. He swallowed. “It’s a bottle of Cold Blaster.”

“Right, the victim is holding your cold medicine. Strange, don’t you think? Why would he have _your_ bottle?” Yoongi asked, his tone much sharper.

Jungkook blanched. “I—”

“—Objection!” Namjoon’s voice was loud and clear, shaking through the Courtroom. “Where’s your proof that the bottle belongs to the Defendant, Prosecutor Min? You’d better present it instead of badgering him. He’s done nothing but answer your questions, there’s no need to be that rude.”

Yoongi’s eyes narrowed slightly as he heard the affirming din rise in the Gallery, brought down to control by the Judge’s gavel banging loudly. “I know that this is Jeon Jungkook’s bottle of Cold Blaster because his _fingerprints_ are on it.” He lifted a piece of paper from his Court File folder and held it to the Bailiff. “The Prosecution submits the fingerprinting analysis, complete with the fingerprint files of everyone involved in this case.”

Namjoon grunted softly; this didn’t look good. Why did the victim have Jungkook’s cold medicine bottle? How did any of this lead to the victim dying by _electrocution_ of all things?

“Jungkook, you seem like a smart young man - academically, and otherwise. I think you know where I’m going with this line of questioning,” Yoongi said, lightly cracking his neck, the picture of cool, calm and collected.

“I’d rather you tell me,” Jungkook replied stiffly.

Namjoon exhaled sharply, sharing a look with Seokjin; the kid was sharp when he got his nerves under control. “He’s smart,” he murmured to Seokjin. “Most people would’ve crumpled under Yoongi by now.”

“Give him time,” Seokjin muttered. “Min Yoongi’s made a lot of people crack, people tougher and more experienced than this kid. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Truth be told, Namjoon was too. He knew how Yoongi operated, and knew the Prosecutor’s tendencies. Yoongi had spent long enough sizing Jungkook up, and had figured out the right tactic to take. With a quiet exhale, Namjoon straightened up to his full height and kept his eyes trained on Yoongi and Jungkook.

“We have statements from some witnesses that state that you were speaking with the victim shortly before he died,” Yoongi said, sucking the air out of the Courtroom. “Things got… heated, didn’t they?”

Jungkook tensed.

“Let’s start simple,” Yoongi offered. “Did the victim contact you to talk?”

“Yes,” Jungkook answered softly. “He wanted to talk about Jinae. He asked me to meet him at 2:45 behind the pharmacology building. Classes were done at that time, but they’re always doing experiments there so people are always coming and going.” He shifted, shaking his head. “I don’t like going around there - it always reeks of chemicals.”

“Do you know much about the department?” Yoongi asked, tilting his head.

Jungkook shook his head in response. “Not more than the bare basics. Seems like he was making up new pharmaceutical drugs and ways to improve existing ones with really powerful machines and a lot of chemicals. He seemed to be really good at it. People called him an Alchemist. Like, a nickname. I would’ve said with the high voltage cables that he was more of a mad scientist.”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow. “The Alchemist?”

“I didn’t come up with the name.”

“Hn.” Yoongi shifted. “You mentioned electrical cables?”

Jungkook nodded. “I’m not a fan of those giant electrical cables around the Pharmacology building. They use non-standard voltages and the electrical poles are always so flimsy that I’m always afraid it’s going to make the cables snap and hurt someone. There are warnings everywhere that any contact could snap the wires ‘cause they’re old but nobody listens.”

Namjoon’s brows furrowed and he flipped through the Court Record, pulling out the first crime scene photograph that Yoongi had submitted mere moments before. The victim, Daejung, was lying face down in the foreground of the photograph, with a broken power line above his head and a broken umbrella to the back by the pole.

Was that… a bare wire? Jungkook wasn’t kidding when he said that he was uneasy around the pharmacology building if the wire was just bare like that.

“Mm.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Yoongi said, his lips pursed, his eyes drilling holes into Jungkook’s skull. “So you talked.”

Jungkook nodded. “We split around 3.”

“What did he say about Miss. Wan?”

Jungkook tensed. “Is that necessary to know?”

Yoongi gave him a look. “You were talking with the victim minutes before he died. _Yes_ , it’s necessary. What were you two talking about?”

“He… wanted to tell me something about Jinae,” Jungkook repeated. “I … didn’t like what he was saying, so I left. When I came back, though, he was dead. That’s when all the craziness happened.”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow. “Why did you go back?”

Jungkook hesitated. “I felt bad.”

“About what?”

“…about how our talk ended. I wanted to see if he was okay.”

Yoongi’s eyes narrowed. “Why would you need to see if he was okay?”

Hesitation and reluctance crossed Jungkook’s features and he looked over at Namjoon for help. Namjoon nodded, gesturing for him to answer. “Be honest,” Namjoon reminded him. “As bad as it might sound, this will help us figure out what happened. If you’re really innocent, Jungkook, we’ll prove it. I promise.”

Swallowing, Jungkook nodded. “We, um, were arguing. He was saying really rude things about Jinae, and I got angry. I shoved him. There was this … I don’t know. It happened so fast. I pushed him in the chest, and he fell over. There was a loud noise. Like a snap.” He swallowed. “I felt bad about it. What if I got him hurt? So I went back and… that’s when I found the body.”

“To reiterate… you spoke with the victim, pushed him, heard a loud noise, and you left. You then came back, overwhelmed with guilt, and found the victim, dead.”

“Yeah.”

Yoongi shook his head slightly. “Look, kid, you seem nice but I’m more convinced than ever that you were the only one that could’ve killed Mr. Bin.”

Jungkook’s eyes were now as wide as saucers. “What?! I didn’t kill him! He was alive when I left!”

“You said it yourself. You were angry with him for speaking ill about your girlfriend, so you pushed him. You shoved him into the electrical pole, and the cable snapped. That’s the sound you heard and that’s what killed Bin Daejung. You were guilty, so you came back to see if anybody saw and that’s what led to you getting arrested,” Yoongi replied evenly, his tone as razor sharp as a sword’s blade.

“That’s not — I did push him, but I didn’t kill him!” Jungkook protested.

Yoongi’s eyes narrowed and he pressed further. “Admit it. This isn’t first-degree, but it’s easily manslaughter. Work with me, kid, and we can get you a decent sentence. But I can’t do anything if you keep fighting me like this.”

“I’m fighting you because I didn’t kill him!” Jungkook exclaimed, panic setting in.

Namjoon narrowed his eyes. “ _Objection!_ Prosecutor Min, this is beneath you. You don’t need to resort to heavy handed tactics. You say that the Defendant killed the Victim using the high voltage cables? That’s why you think he heard a loud noise?”

“There’s nothing else that it could be, that would create a reasonable doubt,” Yoongi replied tersely. “You can see the bare cable in the crime scene photograph.”

“There _is_ something,” Namjoon snapped back, holding up the first crime scene photograph. “Do you see this?”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow. “It’s an umbrella. — No.”

“ _Yes_ ,” Namjoon pressed back. “It’s _April_ , Prosecutor. It’s been raining off and on for _days_ , as the Defendant himself has proven with his cold. Of course the victim would have an umbrella on him. This _is_ the victim’s umbrella, is it not?”

Yoongi’s jaw clenched. “Yes, his fingerprints were on it.”

Namjoon nodded, straightening up and pressing forward. “The Defendant has clearly stated that he pushed the victim, yes, but did you hear what he said? He heard a loud noise. A snap.”

“Yes, that was _the snapped high voltage cable_ ,” Yoongi countered, eyes blazing.

“It was the umbrella!” Namjoon explained, hand smacking the photograph. “He was pushed _backwards_ , the force knocked the umbrella from his hand and the victim landed on it. That’s what the snap the Defendant heard. But more importantly, I want to ask the Defendant something.”

“W-What?” Jungkook asked, terrified.

“What time did you come back to ‘check’ on the victim?”

“Um, like ten minutes later? I was pretty far down the way when I started to feel guilty. I have a pretty long stride but it still took me a little bit to loop back.” Jungkook swallowed. “I saw the body and before I could ask for help, there were a bunch of students around and that’s when the police were called.”

Yoongi snorted. “What is your point, Mr. Kim? The pharmacology students also provided an affidavit said the power went out around 3 p.m. it’s reasonable to say that this was because of the Defendant pushing the victim into the exposed wire.”

Seokjin smirked. “Look at the crime photograph 1, Prosecutor Min,” he said, folding his arms. “Look where the umbrella is. It’s by the electrical pole. If we take the Defendant at his reasonable explanation, he pushed the victim into the pole, and he fell on his umbrella. That umbrella is several feet away from where the body ended up. How did it get there if he died from electrocution on the spot?”

Yoongi’s lips curled into a brief snarl, but he quickly regained control of himself. “It’s April, as you’ve said. It could be the wind.”

“Not on the day of the murder there wasn’t,” Namjoon countered, shaking his head. “It was raining earlier in the day, but the weather reports confirm there was no wind. But the bigger point is that there was a segment of time where the victim was alone. Someone else could have done this.”

With a scoff, Yoongi shook his head. “You can grasp at straws all you want, but I’ve got the final nail in the coffin right here. The Prosecution moves to dismiss Jeon Jungkook from the stand and call Wan Jinae.”

“Jinae?!” Jungkook exclaimed, aghast.

The Judge banged his gavel. “Mr. Jeon, please take your seat in the Defendant’s chair. Prosecutor Min, what reason do you have to call this young lady to the stand?”

“It’s simple, your honour,” Yoongi answered, ever the picture of calm and collected, “she has some very interesting testimony that I think the Court should hear; she was there when the incident occurred.” He turned and gave Namjoon a long look, holding up his right wrist and adjusting his sleeve to give Namjoon a glimpse of a gothic styled dog tattoo, the head turned to the left. 

Namjoon narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion before a young woman came into the Courtroom, dressed in a simple white dressed with a thin cardigan hanging off her delicate, sloped shoulders. Her hair was straight and raven black, her makeup tastefully applied. She had her lace-gloved hands clasped delicately in front of her waist, and her posture was straight.

She gave a beautiful, shy smile to the Courtroom and Namjoon’s heart sank into his chest.

He knew this girl. The name had rung some bells earlier in the trial, but he had assumed it had been because he’d been pouring over the file details for the last 24 hours. But no, it wasn’t because of that, it was because of memories he’d long since buried that erupted to the surface the second Wan Jinae smiled.

(Yoongi… you’re planning what I think you’re planning, aren’t you?) Namjoon thought, frowning thinly. There wasn’t anything else that look from the Prosecutor would mean other than ‘I have a plan, trust me’. There wasn’t anything else that showing him the tattoo they got together with Detective Jung would mean, either.

Trust.

_“I can’t believe this, Joon.” Yoongi’s eyes were dark as he stared ahead, the rain pouring as the dark wood coffin was lowered into the ground. Rain splattered against their black hued umbrellas, watching as their childhood friend was laid to rest. “No way this was an accident.”_

_“Yoon…” Namjoon glanced at him. “They tore the courthouse upside down, they didn’t find anything.”_

_“I know she did it,” Yoongi spat. “He was talking to her in the courthouse before he died, Joon! Nobody else could have done it.”_

_Namjoon frowned and pulled Yoongi into a hug, holding the shorter man close against his chest. “Hyung,” he whispered, “Please don’t hold onto this like that… it’s not going to be good for you… you gotta process this properly.” he had his own doubts about the young woman that their friend Hwang Hajoon had been speaking to about another case. “You have to say goodbye to him now. Keep his memory with you, but say goodbye right now.”_

_“I’m going to find out who killed him,” Yoongi vowed. “And when I get enough evidence, I’m going to prosecute the shit out of them. They’re not going to see the light of day ever again.” He looked up and caught Namjoon’s eyes. “You promise me that you’ll be with me when we do, Joon. Promise me.”   
  
_ _“…I promise,” Namjoon said softly._

The Judge banged his gavel, breaking the defence attorney out of his thoughts. “We will take a 15 minute recess,” he said sternly. “There has been much going on here and while I will apologize to the young lady, we need to approach this carefully.”

Jinae smiled elegantly. “Of course, Mr. Judge. Whatever it takes to prove that my Jungkookie is innocent.”

[Defendant Lobby No. 1 - April 27 - 1:25 p.m.]

Jungkook raked his hands through his hair so much that whatever hairstyle he had when the day had started was long gone. He looked up at Namjoon with scared, wide eyes. “Why is Jinae a witness for the Prosecution? Wouldn’t she… be a character witness for me or something?”

“You sure know a lot about how trials work for a literature student,” Seokjin said, a perfect eyebrow cocked.

“I’m gonna enter the Faculty of Law graduate program when I’m done with this degree,” Jungkook mumbled, rubbing his neck. “But Jinae! She’s… going to defend me, right? She’s my girlfriend. She knows I wouldn’t….”

As much as Namjoon wanted to console Jungkook and confirm that his girlfriend would indeed be on his side, Namjoon knew in his heart he couldn’t. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

Jungkook looked up, and nodded slowly. “Anything.”

“When and where did you meet Miss. Wan?” Namjoon asked, his voice surprisingly firm considering the torrent of emotions spiralling inside of him. Jungkook was innocent, he didn’t know with whom he was dealing, and Namjoon had to remember that.

Confused but trusting, Jungkook nodded again. “We… actually met here, at the courthouse about eight months ago. In the basement reading room. I, um, I mentioned I’m also preparing to go into the Faculty of Law at SNU, so I thought, I’d… do some optional reading. I’ve always liked reading old court cases and stuff.” He blushed a bit. “She just came up to me and shyly said that she’d been trying to get the courage to talk to me for a while. She said she… had something that was perfect, just for me.”

Seokjin raised an eyebrow. “She gave you a present right out the gate?”

“I was surprised too,” Jungkook admitted. “But there’s just something about her that I couldn’t say no to. It felt… right, you know? And it was so sweet of her. She said she could see how stressed I was and wanted to give me a good luck charm to commemorate our meeting. She’s uh, literature student too at SNU.” He smiled and plucked the necklace out from underneath his button down shirt and Namjoon felt his chest construct as he laid eyes on a beautiful bottle necklace, inlaid with a shiny red gem. “I wear it all the time. It’s a little girly, but… she said it was really important. I hold onto it when I’m nervous. It helps calm me down.”

“Did she say anything else?” Seokjin asked curiously.

“Not at the time,” Jungkook said, shaking his head. “But every time I’d see her after that, she’d say ‘give it back now’. I pretended I didn’t hear because it was… just so weird.And a little rude?”

Seokjin nodded slightly. “It is odd that she would ask for a present back.” 

(You have no idea,) Namjoon thought. His heart broke; Jungkook had no idea with whom he was involved. “You said eight months ago… that would be about August 27th, wouldn’t it?”

Seokjin’s eyes widened and he turned to Namjoon, his lips curling into a deep frown. “Namjoon… you’re thinking about your friend, aren’t you?”

“Yes, hyung,” Namjoon said softly; he couldn’t lie to Jin. This explained why Yoongi texted him to bring that newspaper clipping of Hwang’s death to Court today. He’d thought that he wanted it for personal reasons, but Namjoon knew better as soon as he saw Wan Jinae take the stand. He opened his file folder and turned a page to Seokjin, showing him the newspaper clipping Yoongi had asked him to bring.

“If you’re going to do what I think you’re going to do, that little clipping isn’t going to help,” Seokjin said, straightening up. “All right. I’m going to go into this fated reading room myself and see if I can find the Police Report. Are you going to be all right by yourself, Namjoon?”

Namjoon nodded. “Yes, hyung.” He sighed and straightened himself out. “I have to be. — and thank you, anything you can find will be helpful.”

Jungkook’s brows furrowed as Seokjin waved, heading off towards the Courthouse’s basement reading room. “What are you guys talking about?”

“The next part of this trial is going to be really hard to hear, Jungkook,” Namjoon advised, his voice low and serious, catching the younger man off guard. “No matter what happens, I need you to stay with me, okay? Let everything play out. I promise that I will ensure that you’re cleared of your charges.”

Nodding, Jungkook’s eyes were still wide, but they were filled with trust. “I trust you,” he said softly. “And… it’s going to be fine, right? Jinae might be a witness for the Prosecution, but she’s going to be on my side.”

“Let’s hope so,” Namjoon muttered to himself. He turned to Jungkook and gave him a nod. “It’s time. Let’s get back in there, Jungkook.”

With a heavy exhale, Jungkook nodded and pushed himself to his feet. “Let’s get it.”

[District Courtroom No. 4 - April 27th - 1:40 p.m.]

The air in the Courtroom was different as soon as Court reconvened, causing anxiousness to crawl through Namjoon’s skin. Jinae was standing primly at the witness stand, as calm and sweet as she was before the break. Yoongi nodded once the Judge gave him the go-ahead. “Please state your name and occupation for the Court, please,” he said, his tone professional, but Namjoon could hear the ice that lay beneath it.

“My name is Wan Jinae and I am a student at Seoul National University, in the Department of English Language and Literature, in the College of Humanities,” she replied sweetly. “You must forgive me if I stutter, Mister Judge, Mister Prosecutor; I’m really nervous.”

The Judge sputtered, a blush gracing his features. “It’s quite all right young lady! You have nothing to fear here! Isn’t that right, Prosecutor Min?”

“If she hasn’t done anything wrong, no, she has nothing to fear,” Yoongi replied evenly. “However, it would be remiss of me not to remind the witness that we require the full truth of the situation, regardless of what you feel is relevant.”

Jinae’s lip trembled. “You’re so cruel, Mister Prosecutor! Why would you assume I would lie?”

“I assume everyone lies,” Yoongi replied flatly. “Call it an occupational hazard.”

Displeased, Jinae turned to Jungkook. “Tell him he shouldn’t be mean to me, Jungkookie!”

“Uh.” Jungkook blinked, his brows furrowing as he tried valiantly to think of way to politely respond that wouldn’t get him yelled at for contempt of Court. He was saved, however, by Yoongi moving from behind the Prosecutor’s bench and making his way towards Jinae.

“While I do understand that this is a very stressful and difficult task you’ve been asked to endure, you are bound by your oath to tell the truth,” Yoongi started, watching her carefully with his sharp eyes, “your testimony may be what saves or sentences your boyfriend, the Defendant. Do you understand?”

Jinae’s lower lip wibbled, but she nodded. “I understand.”

“Good. Please give us your testimony regarding what occurred between the Defendant and the Victim,” Yoongi instructed.

With a deep inhale and an equally deep exhale, Jinae nodded, closing her eyes and taking a long pause to collect her thoughts. “I was waiting for Jungkookie, we were going to go to his place after class … They were just talking one minute and the next, Daejungie got very wobbly and fell over! Jungkookie turned around when I gasped and that’s when he saw me there. I was so concerned, I went to find some other students to call the authorities.”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow and shot a look to Namjoon that said ‘good luck with this,’ before returning to the Prosecutor’s bench. The Judge hummed thoughtfully (Namjoon could not believe he was even entertaining this testimony) before nodding himself. “Why, by the sounds of it, the Defendant didn’t do anything wrong!” the Judge exclaimed.

“Despite what it _sounds_ like, we must proceed with the cross-examination,” Yoongi interrupted sharply.

The Judge blinked. “Oh. Yes, of course. Please proceed with your cross-examination, Mr. Kim.”

Jinae gripped her hands tighter. “You mean that scary man over there has to question me? Did I … what did I do wrong? I told you the truth!”

“If you did, then there’s nothing to worry about,” Namjoon replied evenly. “I am merely going to clarify some of your statements so the Court has the clearest picture possible. Even if the truth is ugly, we have to hear it. You _do_ wish for the truth to be heard, don’t you, Miss. Wan?”

A very thin, very strained smile came to Jinae’s lips. “You haven’t changed a bit, Mr. Kim Namjoon. Still… so… _you_.”

Jungkook blinked. “Jinae… you’ve met Mr. Kim before?”

“We’ve met… once,” Namjoon replied simply, his gaze never once leaving the witness stand. “Now… let’s begin. You are in the English Literature undergraduate program… what were you doing by the Pharmacology building?”

Jinae tilted her head. “I was on my way to the Korean Language & Literature building, and to get there I need to pass by the back of the Pharmacology building. It’s a bit of a walk, but I rather like the scenery; it helps calm me down. University is so difficult and when one is reading so much high level writing, one needs a way to relax. Ne?”

Namjoon nodded slightly. “You said you were rather close to where the Defendant and the Victim were talking. Did you hear what they said?”

“Mr. Defence Attorney! How could you say such a thing!” Jinae gasped, putting a hand to her chest. “I know you’re only trying to defend Jungkookie but to assume that I am an eavesdropper is just too much!” She frowned at him, concern etched on her beautiful features. “I thought all those rumours about you at the Proseutor’s Office were just rumours, but now I’m not so sure you have my Jungkookie’s interest at heart!”

Namjoon’s eyes narrowed very slightly, and very briefly. She was good; he could hear the murmurings of the Gallery, whispers and denouncements about this grown man bullying a young, demure girl. This same young man that was trained by Yang Hyunki, the fearsome, undefeated Prosecutor. This same young man that left the Prosecutor’s Office so suddenly the legal world was in a state of mass confusion until he resurfaced months later at the offices of Kim & Co. He knew the rumours that circulated about him; he didn’t care. The only thing he cared about was the truth, and he was going to get it.

(They don’t know the truth about you, Wan Jinae. What you’ve tried so hard to get away from, what lengths you’ve gone to in order to escape your past…) Namjoon thought to himself. He spared a glance at Yoongi and under the guise of raising his hand to adjust his glasses, shifted his sleeve enough to show Yoongi his own wrist tattoo. The tattoo of a stylized gothic dog with two yellow eyes, facing forward, white teeth bared. (We’re going to get justice for Hajoon _and_ Jungkook, Yoongi.) “I assure you, Miss. Wan, that I do have your boyfriend’s best interests at heart. Let me ask you another question - according to your testimony, the victim just collapsed on his own?”

“Y-Yes,” Jinae said, nodding as she tightly clasped her hands together at her waist. “I was watching the whole time! Jungkookie didn’t do anything to Daejungie!”

Namjoon sighed softly and pressed his palms against the Defence’s bench before walking out from behind it. “While I can understand why you would do so, lies are becoming of a young lady such as yourself… let’s drop them, shall we?” He slid his hands into his pockets, keeping his posture loose. “It’s been established in this trial that the Defendant pushed the victim. He has admitted that much and there is a handprint on the front of the victim’s jacket.”

Jinae bit her lip and looked up at the Judge. “I-I’m sorry, your Honour. Please… can I revise my testimony?”

The Judge nodded. “Of course, my dear. We need the truth, so please tell us what you saw.”

“Um, actually… I didn’t see the moment that Jungkookie pushed Daejungie. It didn’t look like they were fighting, and I didn’t hear any noise either.”

Namjoon’s brows furrowed. “You were right there and you didn’t see what happened?”

Jinae tensed. “W-Well, I saw when Daejungie hit the ground.”

“You saw when the victim hit the ground,” Namjoon echoed, having trouble keeping the disbelief out of his voice. He noted that Yoongi hadn’t raised an objection, and it was clearly getting to Jinae. He could see the young woman’s hands tighten in their clasped state, her jaw tensing briefly here and there. “All right, let’s go with that for now… you said something else that’s puzzling me.”

“Oh…?”

“You said it didn’t sound like they were fighting,” Namjoon started, adjusting his glasses. “What did it look like they were doing to you?”

“I thought they were having a friendly conversation,” Jinae replied softly. “That’s why I wasn’t watching _that_ closely. I wasn’t worried.”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t notice anything strange at all?”

Jinae shook her head. “No, not at all.”

Namjoon frowned. “The Defendant testified that when he pushed the victim, there was a loud snap. How could you not hear that? A sound like that would make a very distinct impression.”

Jinae chewed on her lip. He could see that her brain was racing, her breathing was quickening but it was barely visible to anybody - except for himself and Yoongi. He had to keep the pressure on. “I was wearing headphones. T-That’s why I couldn’t hear anything. The rain was beginning to let up, and Thor was not content to stop his his fun, you know. The sky flashed and rumbled.”

“Making good use out of that literature degree, I see,” Yoongi muttered.

“…colourful diction aside, your Honour, the witness’ testimony just revealed something very important and I must flag it for your attention,” Namjoon said, speaking directly to the Judge. “The witness has very clearly said that there was lighting.”

“You aren’t seriously suggesting that the victim died by electrocution via a _lightning strike_ , do you?” Yoongi interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

Namjoon nodded. “It’s reasonable, if we believe the witness’ testimony.”

Yoongi sighed heavily and shook his head. “There was no lightning strike the day of the murder, the weather report you cited earlier proves that. The Prosecution believes that the exposed cable is absolutely the reason for the victim’s demise and this Affidavit, sworn by the Pharmacology students who alerted the authorities and that I referenced earlier will attest. The Prosecution submits this as evidence.” He handed copies to the Bailiff, who provided them to both the Judge and to Namjoon. “As you can see here, they swear that the power went out around 3 p.m. the day of the murder. The Pharmacology building, as we’ve established, uses powerful machines that require high voltage currents. This Affidavit also confirms what was established earlier that the cables are brittle.”

“Ignoring why you’ve decided to submit this now, rather than earlier when you first mentioned it, Prosecutor Min, this does clear something up,” Namjoon sighed, rubbing his forehead. “My apologies to Miss. Wan, but we’ll return back to her in a moment. I would like to remind everyone of Mr. Jeon’s testimony - when he pushed the victim, he heard a loud snap.”

“Which you want us to believe is the umbrella snapping,” Yoongi pointed out.

Namjoon raised a hand. “If the Prosecution could learn some patience, I’ll get to that point.” Yoongi snorted and glanced away, arms folded. “I believe when Mr. Jeon pushed Mr. Bin into the electrical pole, the impact from him hitting the wall caused the wire to break, and _then_ the victim fell on his umbrella. That’s the snap that Mr. Jeon heard, and the impact is what caused the power outage that is referenced in the students’ affidavit, which occurred at… wait, 2:55 p.m.?” His eyebrows knitted together. “Your Honour! My client, the Defendant, said he met the victim at 2:45 p.m., left at 3:00 p.m., and returned at around 3:10 p.m.”

The Judge blinked. “Where are you going with this, Mr. Kim?”

“Someone other than my client must have killed Mr. Bin!” Namjoon exclaimed, the realization sending chills up his spine; he was getting somewhere. “The time of death was 3:05 and Mr. Jeon was not on the scene until 5 minutes later.”

Yoongi frowned and shook his head. “I think we’re getting off the rails here. Before you even think about a third person, we need to figure out what it is this witness saw.”

Namjoon flinched; he was getting carried away and his brain was working faster than his mouth could catch up. “My apologies to the Court.”

“You _should_ apologize,” Jinae said softly, but the edge in her voice cut through the Courtroom. “Mister Judge, can I say something? The way that that lawyer is saying things happened is very different from what I remember.”

The Judge’s eyes widened and he nodded quickly. “Yes, you should be given the chance to defend yourself. I understand that Mr. Kim can be a little confusing to listen to; he is working with the Kim & Co. Law Offices, they tend to be a bit chaotic.”

(I’m so relieved Jin-hyung isn’t here to hear that,) Namjoon thought dryly.

Jinae exhaled deeply. “I remember… that Jungkookie pushed him twice. The first time, he hit the electrical pole… that broke the cable. Daejungie ran, but Jungkookie’s so fast, he caught up and crashed into him! That sent him flying and he touched the cable.” Her lip wibbled. “Jungkookie I’m so sorry but I can’t lie anymore! T-The cable snapping and Daejungie being electrocuted, it happened within the space of a minute.”

“That’s completely different than what you said before!” Namjoon exclaimed in disbelief.

“I’m so sorry, I wanted to protect Jungkookie,” Jinae whimpered, her eyes watering. “Please stop yelling at me! Isn’t this… b-badgering the witness, Mister Judge?”

The Judge affixed Namjoon with a stern glare. “Please conduct yourself with more professionalism, Mr. Kim.”

Namjoon sighed and shook his head. “With all due respect, I’m not saying anything inappropriate. There weren’t any hand prints on the victim’s back, just the front. I don’t believe this witness for a second.”

“I said he _crashed_ into him,” Jinae pointed out. “Please listen carefully, Mr. Attorney. Between you and the mean ol’ cat man over there, I see they don’t teach you how to listen in the Prosecutor’s Office.”

“It doesn’t matter _how_ you phrased it, there’s a fundamental problem with your version of events,” Namjoon pointed out. “This ties into what I was saying earlier - the power went out at 2:55 p.m., this is when Mr. Jeon shoved Mr. Bin into the pole, severing the cable and crumpling the umbrella. The time on the wristwatch of the victim stopped right when he was electrocuted - 3:05 p.m. Mr. Jeon has testified that he returned at 3:10 and saw the body.” Turning suddenly, holding the crime photograph to Jinae, his eyes narrowed. “What were you doing in that stretch of time by yourself, Miss. Wan?”

Jinae’s jaw clenched and she tightened her grip on her own hands. “I—”

“You were right there, were you not?” Namjoon challenged. “I am going to be honest with you, Miss. Wan, your testimony has proven one thing - you aren’t telling us the truth one way or the other. Ten minutes passed between the cable breaking and the electrocution! Mr. Jeon wasn’t there at the scene from 3:00 to 3:10 p.m. but _you_ were. What were you doing? You owe an answer to this Court! After the victim was pushed into the electrical pole, did you really stand there and do nothing, obliviously listening to music while two very important men to you fought?”

The Judge banged his gavel. “Mr. Kim, where are you going with this?”

Namjoon straightened up. “The Defence moves to indict the real murderer in this case, your Honour. Someone who has cast more suspicion on themselves than the Defendant, who has been dishonest with this Court.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jungkook’s eyes widening in realization, and Seokjin sliding back behind the Defence’s bench. “There’s one person’s movements and actions that haven’t been truly accounted for, and their testimony has been wobbly at best and incredible at worst.”

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the Judge’s lips pursed. 

It was time.

“The Defence indicts Wan Jinae as the true culprit in the murder of Bin Daejung!” Namjoon said firmly, narrowing his eyes.

“This is a very serious accusation the Defence the Defence is levying,” the Judge said grimly, shaking his head. “Are you sure about this? You know what will happen if you throw out baseless accusations, Mr. Kim.”

Jinae frowned deeply, her breathing starting to quicken again and the anger in her eyes betrayed the concern that she was trying to display on her face. “Are you seriously trying to blame me for Daejungie’s murder? The rumours were true about you! You’re just a monster who will say anything to get your client off! Even if it means blaming an innocent girl?”

Namjoon stepped forward, remaining a respectful distance away from the witness stand, but still closing in. “Not only did you murder Bin Daejung, you also framed your boyfriend, Jeon Jungkook so you could escape. Again.”

“How could you!?” Jinae cried, shaking her head wildly. “Have you no _shame?_ Why would I do such a thing? To Daejungie, who I still cared about, and my Jungkookie? This is ridiculous, Mr. Judge! How are you letting this happen?”

Yoongi pursed his lips. “You need a motive in order to move forward with indictment, Mr. Kim.”

“Good thing we have it, then!” Seokjin interrupted, startling the Judge. “Your Honour, if you will give us some leniency, we can explain Miss. Wan’s motives. But to fully understand why she did what she did, including pinning the whole thing on her poor sap of a boyfriend—”

“Poor sap of a boyfriend?!” Jungkook echoed, affronted.

Waving off Jungkook’s offence at being called a sap, Seokjin regarded the Judge. “We ask the Court’s leniency and understanding as we go back in time about eight months… when two young lovebirds met right here in the hallowed halls of Justice.”

“Now which one of us is waxing poetic for no reason?” Yoongi muttered.

Handily ignoring Yoongi as well, now, Seokjin continued. “Eight months ago, there was a murder here in the Courthouse. A young defence attorney, Hwang Hajoon, was poisoned while speaking with a young lady in the basement reading room, the same day that Miss. Wan and Mr. Jeon met… in the same place. The young lady’s name who was not only being questioned by Mr. Hwang and considered a suspect in his death … was Wan Jinae. The Defence submits into evidence this newspaper clipping and the accompanying police report.”

“What?!” Jungkook exclaimed, jumping to his feet. The necklace that he had shown Namjoon earlier thudded heavily against his chest; he must have been holding it to calm his nerves.

The Judge banged his gavel on the bench. “Mr. Jeon! Please sit down.”

Jungkook’s eyes were wide, glassy with fearful tears. “You said it was all a misunderstanding, Jinae! That they confused you with someone else!”

“Mr. Jeon!” the Judge bellowed.

Namjoon placed a hand on the railing in front of the Defendant’s chair, and gave Jungkook a thin, but genuine smile. “Jungkook… remember what I said to you in the Lobby? This is going to be very hard to hear, but I need you to stay with me, okay? No more outbursts or this is going to jeopardize everything.”

“O-Okay,” Jungkook agreed, swallowing. He sat back down, tightly clutching the crystal bottle necklace close to his chest.

Jinae’s elegant features were marred by an ugly scowl, but the second that the attention was back on her, she was once more the demure beauty that charmed the Courtroom seconds before. “I can’t believe you would bring up such a horrible memory,” she said shakily, almost willing the tears to pool at her eyes. “They treated me like such a criminal! Just because I was speaking to that Defence Attorney before he died! I didn’t poison him!” She sniffled and shook her head.

The Judge frowned. “While it may be true that the witness was a suspect in a previous investigation, I fail to see what relevance that has to this case.”

“It has everything to do with it, your Honour,” Namjoon said, turning to face him. “Please bear with me for a moment and I will answer the Court’s concerns. The witness was speaking with the victim, Mr. Hwang, a Defence Attorney on August 27th, in this very Courthouse, in the basement reading room. Mr. Hwang was speaking with Miss. Wan about an unrelated case but died after ingesting poisoned coffee. The poison was Atroquinine, a very rare and very potent chemical.”

Jinae clenched her jaw. “If you remember _anything_ , Mr. Attorney, you’ll know that the police questioned me like a common criminal _and_ they searched me because in order to poison someone with Atroquinine you’d need at least 2 teaspoons! You’d need something to hold it and _they found nothing on me_.”

Namjoon narrowed his eyes. “They found nothing on you because you passed the murder weapon on as a keepsake to an innocent young man who was there to study law.” He clenched his hands into fists and unclenched them. He had to stay composed. “Just like you poisoned Hwang Hajoon and passed off the evidence to someone you _knew_ wouldn’t be questioned, and you were planning on taking your perfect little patsy out out as well but you ran into a problem, didn’t you?”

“W-What are you…”

“Mr. Jeon wouldn’t give you back the necklace you gave him,” Namjoon continued. “You gave it to him at the Courthouse disguised as a gift, as a good luck charm to a cute boy you said was your soulmate, and he believed you. He believed in you so much that he kept that bottle safe, but … that was also the problem, wasn’t it? He wouldn’t give it back, he was attached to it now. So you had to get it back… but eight months passed and he was still hanging onto it. You must have been desperate.”

Jinae’s jaw trembled as she clenched it so hard that the sound of her teeth grinding cracked through the silence in the Courtroom. “So you’re hell bent on painting me as some kind of serial murderer? I wouldn’t even know _where_ to get this poison for either murder!”

“But you did,” Namjoon countered, shaking his head. “Up until 8 months ago, you were dating Bin Daejung, who was a 4th year Pharmacology major. As we’ve established, there’s potent, dangerous chemicals for pharmaceutical use, in addition to the high voltage cables. You were dating Mr. Bin to get access to those chemicals, and he might not have caught you the first time, but he sure suspected you the second time, didn’t he?” Ignoring Jinae’s startled cry, Namjoon pressed on. “That’s why he was trying to warn Mr. Jeon about you. He wanted to warn the Defendant that you weren’t what you seemed to be. Mr. Jeon didn’t want to hear it, he believed in you - that’s why he pushed Mr. Bin.”

Seokjin nodded. “And here we come to the crux of the issue. Miss. Wan needed to get this bottle back from the Defendant, it was important that she get it back ASAP and destroy it. It was the only thing tying her to the Courthouse murder. But you were having a hell of a time, weren’t you? Mr. Jeon was wearing it all the time, and as popular as he is, everybody’s seen him with it. So you were running out of time to get it back… so you decided to go back to the ol’ standby… you went to the Pharmacology department, and got a virulent poison.”

Jinae frowned and gripped the railing of the witness stand. “You monster! You’d stop at nothing to accuse me of murder?! Where would I even put that poison! I didn’t have anything on me now and I didn’t have anything on me then!”

“There’s something I’ve been wondering this entire case,” Namjoon said, bringing her attention back to him, “why was the victim holding Mr. Jeon’s cold medicine? It didn’t make any sense, it’s not as if it was some sort of clue as to his real killer. It is, but not in the way you intended.”

“Aren’t you going to stop him!?” Jinae demanded to Yoongi.

“I’m waiting for him to finish his point,” Yoongi replied blithely. “You should too.”

Namjoon slid his hands into his pockets. “Mr. Jeon testified he lost his bottle of Cold Blaster while having lunch with you. You two have been going out for quite some time, you’d be more than aware that he was taking cold medicine… you’d have ample time to take it, and poison the tablets. He has to take them every day with food, easy enough.”

“But there was a problem, wasn’t there? You saw Mr. Bin talk to Mr. Jeon,” Seokjin added, coming out from behind the bench himself. “There wasn’t anything they had in common… aside from you, so there was really only one thing they could be talking about. You were nervous, weren’t you? But then something finally went your way - Mr. Jeon pushed the victim into the pole, and the wire snapped.”

Casting a glance to Jungkook, whose eyes were getting wider and wider with realization as he tightened his grip on the necklace around his slender neck, Namjoon turned his attention back to Jinae. He had her in his sights. “Mr. Jeon left, and that’s when you made your move. All it would take is a shove, a bump, to send Mr. Bin stumbling into that bare electrical wire. No evidence left behind… except for what you left there.”

“I didn’t leave _anything_ there!” Jinae protested, a growl entering her previously light lilt. “There was nothing and you _have_ nothing, you monster!”

“On the contrary… this little bottle of Cold Blaster found its way into Mr. Bin’s hands,” Namjoon said, shaking his head. “Just like when you made Mr. Jeon your mule to hold your evidence, you made Mr. Bin hold the evidence of your plan to poison Mr. Jeon. You knew you’d be searched, just like back then. You must have panicked. So you did the only thing you could: you staged the scene and watched as your boyfriend took the fall.” Namjoon’s eyes narrowed. “He believed in you.”

“Nngh,” Jinae growled, the lace of her gloves ripping as she clenched her hands so tightly that her nails broke through the thin fabric, “if he wasn’t such a dumb puppy this wouldn’t have even happened.” She turned and glared at him. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me.”

“Jinae!” Jungkook exclaimed, jumping to his feet again as his voice cracked with distress. “I didn’t want to believe him, you two were exes and you’re my girlfriend! But I believed you when you told me about the Courthouse! And that lawyer! You said… You promised—!”

A sudden shattering of glass shot through the stifling silence of the Courtroom, and Namjoon’s eyes widened. There, laying broken and bloodied in Jungkook’s hand was the bottle necklace. “That’s got poison in it — your Honour! Break for recess! I need to take Mr. Jeon to the Infirmary!” Without waiting, Namjoon vaulted over the railing for the Defendant’s chair and grasped Jungkook’s left wrist, pulling him out of the Courtroom as it erupted into chaos.

[Infirmary - District Courthouse - Room #05]

Jungkook hissed as the medical personnel on staff carefully removed the glass from his right palm, and deposited the pieces and the necklace itself in a biohazard container - handing it off to the police once the necessary tests were complete. “Is he going to be all right?” Namjoon asked, brows furrowed in concern.

“There wasn’t any reaction to our spot test for poison,” the staff replied as they wrapped Jungkook’s hand with fresh bandages. “However, I recommend someone keep an eye on him for the remainder of the trial and afterwards just to be safe. I would ordinarily recommend the trial be suspended, but the Judge was very clear that if he could reasonably stand trial, he should.” They sighed. “Which I don’t agree with, but…”

Namjoon nodded. “Thank you, we’ll advise if we need anything further.” The staff nodded, shuffling off to dispose of their disposable safety equipment. “Jungkook… I’m sorry.”

Quietly, almost mutely, Jungkook shook his head as he stared down at his bandaged hand. “It’s not your fault,” he said softly. “I…” He frowned, flexing his fingers slowly, testing the elasticity of the bandages. “I had a bad feeling a little while ago… that she was… that something was weird.”

“What do you mean?” Namjoon kept his voice gentle. “Take your time. Court won’t reconvene unless you’re ready.”

Jungkook looked down at his knee, where Namjoon’s large hand was and seemed to be lost in thought as he watched the lawyer’s hand gently squeeze his kneecap. “There were … always rumours about that case eight months ago, and why she and Bin broke up.”

Namjoon frowned thinly. “What kind of rumours?”

“Nothing I could prove,” Jungkook admitted. “That she poisoned that lawyer in this courthouse, that she was … involved in a fake kidnapping story with some poor guy she tricked into helping her only to throw him under the bus when the trial happened.” He paused. “…your friend. Mr. Hwang? I recognize his name. He was the one that was defended the suspect in that kidnapping case… the guy’s name was… Park Daeho, or something.” Jungkook swallowed. “Am I… a bad person, Mr. Kim? That I… that I looked up that case? Both of them? That I … didn’t believe in her?” He looked down at his hands. “She trusted me.”

“Jungkook…” Namjoon could feel his heart break in half and shatter. “You should always trust your instincts. You’re not a bad person for looking into something like that. Ordinarily I’d say that you should’ve told her, but…” he sighed softly, and gave him a small smile. “You’re a really good person, Jungkook. You really do want to see the best in her, don’t you?”

“…She’s my first girlfriend,” Jungkook confessed quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. “I was… so scared of losing her that I just… ignored all the warning signs. I didn’t want to believe the rumours, I didn’t want to believe what Bin told me! But he …” Jungkook swallowed and fished around in his pockets, holding out a folded piece of paper to Namjoon. “He gave me this. I didn’t… I didn’t … I’m sorry I didn’t mention it before, but I didn’t want to believe he was right.”

Namjoon’s eyebrows knitted together as he quietly took the folded piece of paper from Jungkook. As his long fingers fumbled to unfold it, he nearly dropped it.

 _‘Wan Jinae isn’t who you think she is. Watch this and you’ll see._  
 _\- Bin Daejung  
_ _PS: I’m sorry man. I was fooled too._

“What’s… what’s on this USB stick?” Namjoon asked quietly, folding the paper back over. “It’s so small.”

“It’s… you can slip it into a phone and watch videos…” Jungkook explained, quietly pulling out his cell phone with a wince. “Here.” He took the tiny USB stick, about the size of a sim card, and slipped it into an open port on his smartphone. Immediately, a video player app on his phone opened.

Namjoon crowded in, watching curiously. He could feel heat coming off of Jungkook, but didn’t think anything of it - the young man was likely out of his mind with worry and panic. He kept his hand on Jungkook’s knee as he watched what appeared to be security footage of inside the Pharmacology building’s Virulent and Potent Chemical storage room. He checked the video’s run time - it was an hour long.

“We don’t have time to watch the whole thing at normal speed…”

Jungkook made a soft sound and nodded, modifying the settings so it played at double speed, with a time stamp in the corner. Around 45 minutes into the video file’s playback, Namjoon could see Wan Jinae sneak into the room using a keycard that he would be any amount of money wasn’t hers. His jaw clenched as he watched her make a beeline to the locked cabinet, using the keycard again to open the digitally locked cabinet. She ran a gloved finger along the bottles until she picked up a small one, and walked to the side to a table. She took something out of her purse, fiddled with both the chemical and the item she took out of her purse before putting everything back and hurrying out. There was nothing out of place, and everything was as it was before. If it wasn’t for the camera, there would’ve been very little evidence of this at all.

“Jungkook,” Namjoon breathed. “This is… this is case breaking evidence. This will prove she stole the Atroquinine to … — Jungkook!”

The young man’s phone had clattered to the floor, his hands pressed tightly to his face as fresh tears fell down his cheeks. His body heaved and his shoulders trembled as a choked, broken hearted sob escaped him. “I’m such an idiot,” he sobbed, digging his blunt fingernails into his scalp. “She’s been trying to kill me and I just…! She’s… she’s right! I’m just a stupid fucking puppy! No wonder she tried to kill me! What… what good am I? I couldn’t even hold _evidence_ properly!”

Namjoon frowned as his chest clenched painfully tight at the sight and sound of a sweet young man like Jungkook falling apart in the Courthouse’s infirmary like this. Gently, but with a strong grip, Namjoon pried Jungkook’s hands from his head and held them. “You are _not_ an idiot,” he said firmly. “You, Jeon Jungkook, are one of the most genuine, sweet, and caring young men I’ve ever met. The only thing you did ‘wrong’ was trust in someone you loved. That’s not wrong at all. What _she_ did was wrong and if you’ll let me, I’ll use this footage to prove it.”

“W-Won’t I be in trouble for not giving it over before?” Jungkook asked, hiccuping as his tears dried along the damp tear tracks on his cheeks.

“You leave that to me,” Namjoon promised with a smile. “No matter how grim it gets, or how tough the truth is to hear, I’m always going to be there for you, Jungkook. Just trust me, and we’ll get out of this together. I trust you, but I’ll need your trust too.”

Stupefied, Jungkook stared at the young attorney beside him with wide, glassy eyes. He sniffled, raising his hand to wipe his tears with his good hand. “Y-Yeah,” Jungkook whispered, nodding once. “I trust you, Mr. Kim.” He exhaled heavily and swallowed, looking at Namjoon with a determined fire now alight in the doe brown of his eyes. “I give my consent for you to use that USB as evidence in this case.” Carefully, Jungkook removed the USB from his phone and placed it back in the folded piece of paper, curling Namjoon’s long fingers over it.

Smiling wide enough to light up a room, Namjoon nodded. “I won’t let you down, Jungkook.”

“I doubt you could sir.”

[District Courtroom No. 4 – April 27th – 3:45 p.m.]

The Gallery was loud and filled to the brim – it wouldn’t have surprised Namjoon in the slightest if there were more people spectating once they heard what kind of insanity was going on. He stood behind the Defence’s bench with Seokjin, looking across the ‘battlefield’ so to speak, to Yoongi. The Prosecutor was as cool as ever, arms folded and nary a hair or thread out of place. They held their gazes for a long moment as the Judge struggled to get the Gallery under control and Namjoon nodded once, raising his right hand to show Yoongi his tattoo.

Realization crossed Yoongi’s features and he gave the slightest of nods in return. Both men turned to the Judge who sighed in slight exasperation. “Now that we finally have this Courtroom under control,” the Judge started, shaking his head, “Mr. Jeon. Are you all right?”

Jungkook jumped at being addressed and nodded, bowing deeply. “I would like to apologize to the Court,” he said clearly, a much different person than he had been throughout the entirety of the trial previously. “This has been… a lot to process, but that doesn’t excuse interrupting the proceedings like that.”

The Judge nodded, pleased at the young man’s manners. “I understand from the medical staff here at the Courthouse that you are well enough to stand trial?”

“Yes your Honour,” Jungkook confirmed. “They’ve asked that I be monitored closely, but there doesn’t seem to have been enough poison left in the bottle to be harmful.”

The Judge blinked. “There _was_ poison in the necklace?” His thick eyebrows furrowed as he regarded Jinae, who seemed to be startled at the revelation herself but reacted with a brief flash of anger than shock. “There was quite a bit that was uncovered prior to the recess and there has been quite the amount of detours in general so I think a subsequent overview is required. – Prosecutor Min, will you summarize these findings for the Court?”

“At once, your Honour,” Yoongi agreed. “We’ll start with the case that’s being tried right now. The Victim, Bin Daejung asked the Defendant, Jeon Jungkook, to meet with him at 2:45 p.m. the day of the murder. They met behind the Pharmacology building and spoke for roughly 15 minutes before the Defendant shoved the Victim into the nearby electrical pole. This impact broke the cable but did _not_ electrocute the Victim at that point in time. The loud snap the Defendant indicates he heard in his testimony has been reasonably established to be the flimsy umbrella that he had on his person during his conversation with the Defendant.”

(So far so good,) Namjoon thought, running his thumb along the folded piece of paper in his pocket.

Yoongi caught Namjoon’s gaze and inclined his head slightly. “Now, after pushing the Victim, the Defendant left the scene at roughly 3:00 p.m. He has testified that he returned roughly 10 minutes later and found the body, which is when authorities were called. The Victim died at 3:05 p.m., as evidenced by his stopped wristwatch. We have also established that the Witness, Miss. Wan Jinae, was also in the area, watching this unfold and currently, her movements during the 10 minutes that the Defendant was gone to when he returned and the authorities were called by the Pharmacology students.” He cleared his throat and looked at Jinae. “I will be honest with you, Miss. Your testimony thus far has only served to increase suspicion on you, but the evidence at best, is circumstantial.”

“I am sorry about your friend, Mister Prosecutor,” Jinae started softly, but there was nary a gentle tone in her voice, “but framing me for murder isn’t going to bring him back. Shouldn’t you honour his memory in a more… productive way?”

If Yoongi was affected by the young woman’s attack, he didn’t show it. Instead, he scoffed and shook his head, carrying on. “The Defence has linked this Witness to a murder that occurred eight months ago in this Courthouse, alongside her connection to the Defendant. The Witness was the prime suspect in a police investigation into the murder of rising defence attorney Hwang Hajoon. She was suspected of poisoning Mr. Hwang’s coffee but no poison was found on her when searched. The Courtroom was in lockdown, but the Witness was able to pass off incriminating evidence as a present to the Defendant. Mr. Jeon was oblivious to what he was holding – to him, it was merely a necklace and when asked, he would say it was a good luck charm.”

The Judge hummed. “Quite an incredible stroke of luck. Now, have we confirmed that there was Atroquinine in the necklace that Mr. Jeon broke?”

“The remnants are currently being tested more thoroughly, but I can advise the Court at this moment that there are definitely _traces_ of poison in the glass,” Yoongi confirmed. “Now, this is all circumstantial. There is no evidence currently that definitively ties the Witness to either crime.”

“Can I please go now?” Jinae asked, frowning. “This farce has gone on long enough.”

“We can agree on that at least,” Namjoon interrupted, moving out from behind the desk. “I would like you to know something, Miss. Wan. Mr. Jeon believed in you so much that he tried his hardest to ignore the warnings he received from others, especially Mr. Bin. He wanted to believe that you were innocent, that you weren’t who they said you were. He wanted to believe in you _so much_ , that he couldn’t stand to bring this piece of evidence forward. But your behaviour today has shown that he can’t ignore it. Not anymore.” Namjoon’s eyes hardened. “I don’t know how you could so easily put that level of pain and sadness in his eyes, Miss. Wan. Who you call a ‘lovesick puppy’ is possibly one of the strongest people I’ve come to know.” He held up a piece of paper. “And he gave me this because he knew that truth has to come out, even if it’s ugly.”

From the Defendant’s seat, Jungkook’s eyes were wide, and his mouth was slightly opened, his gaze never once leaving Namjoon.

Jinae frowned at him, her jaw tightening. “Why don’t you marry him, then, if you love him so much?” she muttered. “I don’t know why no one’s stopping you two from trying to frame me! I didn’t kill Daejungie and I did not kill your friend! Stop trying to bully me just to ease your own guilty conscience! It’s not my fault he’s dead!”

A gasp rose from the Gallery, but it was distant in Namjoon’s ears. Quietly, he unfolded the paper and held up both the paper and the tiny USB stick. “The Defendant received this from Mr. Bin, the Victim, when they met on the day of the murder. He could not bear to see what was on this USB stick, so he kept it on him… but even now, he couldn’t get rid of it.” His eyes narrowed. “He’s smarter than you give him credit for, Miss. Wan.” Turning sharply, Namjoon turned to the Gallery. “Allow me to read this note – _‘Wan Jinae isn’t who you think she is. Watch this and you’ll see. – Bin Daejung. PS: I’m sorry man. I was fooled too_. _’_ ” 

“What… isn’t that against the law?!” Jinae exclaimed, looking up at the Judge, her eyes wide. “He hid that! And if that has something bad against me, then that proves that Jungkookie lost his temper and hurt Daejungie!”

She was getting desperate now, but it was a valid point she was bringing up, and Namjoon was prepared.

Yoongi raised an eyebrow. “This does raise a question of motive. When did the Defendant watch this video? Was it in the time in between him leaving and returning?”

The Judge turned to Jungkook. “When did you watch this video, Defendant?”

“Last night,” Jungkook replied softly. “After the police had me stay with my aunt here in Seoul instead of at my dorm.”

Yoongi’s brows furrowed. “How was this not found when they searched you?”

At that, Jungkook shrugged. “The Detective said it was so open and shut that they didn’t bother looking through everything. They were convinced I’d done it.”

A growl escaped Yoongi’s lips and he flipped through his notes. “Detective Nam is going to get one hell of a performance review after this…” he snarled, barely keeping his anger in check. “The only way the Prosecution will agree to admit this USB into evidence is if it’s remitted into our custody and it is played from a court-issued computer.”

Namjoon nodded. “The Defence agrees wholeheartedly.” He walked forward and placed both the note and the USB stick down on the Prosecution’s bench, raising his hands and walking back to stand beside Seokjin.

“Are you sure about this?” Seokjin asked softly, keeping his eyes focused solely on Yoongi and the USB stick.

“I believe in Jungkook,” Namjoon replied without hesitation. “That video contains security camera footage of Wan Jinae stealing from the Pharmacology building.”

Seokjin nearly fell off his feet and gripped the Defence’s bench for support. “And he was just hanging onto that?!” he hissed.

Namjoon shook his head slightly. “He’s a kid, hyung – away from home for the first time and dating his first girlfriend. She might as well have come from the moon as a goddess as far as he was concerned. He didn’t want to believe that there was any truth to the rumours. But he didn’t destroy it… I think because deep down, he was afraid what they were saying, what the Victim was saying was true.”

The senior lawyer and namesake of Kim & Co. Law Offices shook his head slightly in disbelief, though realization danced across his handsome features. “He’s learning the hard way how cruel the real world is,” Seokjin commented softly. “But what did you say to him in the Infirmary? He looks like a different person.”

“I just believed in him,” Namjoon replied simply. “Watch this, hyung. You’re going to want to see this footage.”

Yoongi pulled over the laptop that was hooked up to the giant screens that displayed the evidence to not only the Judge, but to the Gallery. With latex gloves on, Yoongi carefully slipped the USB stick into the laptop and pulled up the video file. He double-checked that the video was playing back properly before playing it in full. Seeing quickly that the run time was longer than they could spend, Yoongi glanced at the Judge. “With permission of the court, I’m going to set the playback speed to 1.5x.”

The Judge nodded. “Please.”

The footage ran faster now, and Yoongi’s fingers were quick to stop the second he saw movement. He scrubbed the footage back, and reset the playback speed to normal. The Courtroom was silent, thick with tension as the black and white footage showed what Namjoon and Jungkook had viewed in the Infirmary – Jinae breaking into the room using a stolen key card and breaking into the Virulent and Potent chemical cabinet.

“I want to bring the Court’s attention to this frame,” Namjoon spoke suddenly. “As you can see, the Witness has taken something out of her purse. On the Court’s bigger screens, it’s easy to see that it’s a bottle roughly the same size as Mr. Jeon’s Cold Blaster cold medication.”

“You’ve _got_ to be kidding me!” Jinae hissed. “That idiot said the cameras were broken!”

“—What was that?” Yoongi’s head snapped up, eyes flashing.

Jinae stiffened and she gripped her hands tightly. “I didn’t say anything.”

Yoongi turned quickly to the Court Reporter. “Did you catch that?”

The Court Reporter nodded. “The Witness said ‘you’ve got to be kidding me! That idiot said the cameras were broken!’”

“I think we can finally start bringing this trial to a close, your Honour,” Namjoon started, pushing his glasses up to rest on his nose. “Between this footage and the trace amounts of poison on the bottle necklace that the Witness has confirmed to have given the Defendant, I think we can safely say that Mr. Jeon did not kill Mr. Bin.”

The Judge hummed. “There is sufficient proof that the Defendant did not kill the Victim,” he agreed. “But there is still the matter as to how the Victim died.”

“Judge! Aren’t you the least bit upset that this stupid idiot hid evidence?!” Jinae snapped suddenly before catching herself.

To her rising horror, the Judge shook his head. “It’s understandable why the Defendant did not bring forth this evidence, given the situation, and his relationship with you. It is not fully forgivable, of course, but it is reasonable as to why he did not immediately bring it forward. There is the issue of the police department being remiss in their investigation, but that is a matter to investigate later. But as I’ve said, we are still missing what the Witness was doing during this time and how the Victim died.”

“I think we can reasonably fill in the blanks here,” Seokjin began, sliding his hands into his pockets. “When the Defendant left, the Witness realized that she had to get rid of the Victim. He was onto her – he was suspicious of her from before, and had said there was some more poison missing from the lab. The Victim warned the Defendant to be wary of the Witness, so she had to take him out. It wouldn’t have taken much for the Witness to bump into the Victim, catching him off guard and sending him into the exposed wire. That leads to another problem – Mr. Jeon came back to check on the Victim. Thinking fast, the Witness did what she did eight months ago: she made someone else carry the evidence of her plans. She slipped the bottle of Cold Blaster into the Victim’s hand and played the part of innocent bystander. As we can see, the Witness has an affinity for gloves; her prints wouldn’t be on the bottle.”

The Judge nodded solemnly. “While not hard evidence, it is a strong enough case to show that the Defendant did not murder the Victim, which is the purpose of this trial today.” He nodded again. “I feel comfortable enough to rule that Jeon Jungkook is innocent of the crime of murder in the killing of Bin Daejung. Another trial will be scheduled to determine the innocence or guilt of Miss. Wan Jinae.”

“How DARE you!?” Jinae exploded, her voice shrill and distraught. “You… you horrible, cruel, ugly men!” She pointed at Namjoon and Yoongi, her hair out of place from the sudden, jerky movements. “You just couldn’t leave me the hell alone, could you? Watching my every step since your dumb friend died! Do you know how hard it was to get out!? And you just… wouldn’t leave me alone!”

Yoongi narrowed his eyes. “We wouldn’t leave you alone because evidence is leaning very hard to the fact that you’re a murderer, liar, and manipulator,” he pointed out. “A serial one, at that. The only person that got you into this mess was you and your actions. People are not pawns, they aren’t things you can brush under the rug when it gets too inconvenient for you. Not Hwang Hajoon, not Bin Daejung, not Jeon Jungkook and not Park Daeho.”

Jinae let out a frustrated screech, digging her nails into her scalp. Suddenly, she whirled and pointed her finger at Jungkook. “And you! You stupid, snivelling, little _kid_. If you’d just listened to me, this wouldn’t have happened! You should’ve just given that necklace back to me! But you were just … so freaking happy to show it off to _everyone!_ I can’t… _believe_ how naïve you were! Ugh, Christ.” She raked a hand through her hair. “I couldn’t depend on you for anything.”

Jungkook’s face fell, his eyes conflicted but hardening with the realization that the girl he thought he loved didn’t exist. He closed his eyes briefly, clenching and unclenching his hands that rested on his lap before slowly rising to his feet. “I don’t know what happened to you to make you hate everybody so much,” Jungkook said softly. “But I hope that you’re able to find peace somehow, Jinae. Carrying around that much hate and anger isn’t good.”

“Oh shut up!” Jinae snapped, folding her arms. “You don’t get to take the moral high ground.”

As Jungkook frowned and went to say something, Namjoon stepped in and regarded the Judge. “Your final verdict, your Honour?”

The Judge nodded. “In the murder of Bin Daejung, this Court declares that the Defendant, Jeon Jungkook is _NOT GUILTY_ and his record shall be cleared.” The succinct, heavy sound of his gavel hitting the bench resounded throughout the Courtroom before the Gallery erupted into a frenzy of celebratory cries.

Jungkook numbly moved out from behind the Defendant’s chair and let out a heavy, relieved exhale. He smiled widely as he looked at Namjoon and Seokjin. “Mr. Kim… Mr. Kim… thank you so much. I don’t… I don’t know how to thank you. You saved my life.” He looked at Namjoon as he said the last part, his smile turning shy.

Namjoon shook his head with a small smile and in a move that surprised himself, he pulled Jungkook into a tight hug. “You saved yourself,” he said softly. “Always do what’s right, Jungkook, no matter how tough it is, how tough the truth is, how many people tell you to stop. I’ll always believe in you. So please, believe in yourself.”

“Mr. Kim…” Jungkook whispered, tightening his hold on Namjoon. “…Thank you. I will. And I’m going to stand beside you in Court one day.”

Namjoon smiled, returning the hug just as tightly. “I look forward to it, Jungkook.”

**Author's Note:**

> y'all Jungkook is whipped for this man
> 
> also is Jinae Dahlia Hawthorne? Yes


End file.
